Woolworths and food rescue organisation, OzHarvest, have reached a major milestone, with the supermarket having donated the equivalent of 50 million meals to the charity since their partnership began.
The 50 millionth meal was rescued from Woolworths Redlynch in Cairns, and delivered to St Margaret’s House, a shelter run by Anglicare North Queensland or young women experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Woolworths is OzHarvest’s national food rescue partner, and biggest food donor, providing over half of the organisation’s rescued food, and supporting over 1800 charities. Collected from more than 550 stores across the country, 75% of the food is said to be fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish.
Since 2014, Woolworths and OzHarvest claim to have saved 18,000 tonnes of food from ending up in landfill, subsequently preventing 118,543 tonnes of CO2-emissions from damaging the environment.
OzHarvest founder and CEO Ronni Kahn says Woolworths has been an incredible supporter, right from the early days.
“Over the last eight years, we’ve worked together to improve both the quality and quantity of rescued food, to ensure the people we feed have regular access to fresh and nutritious produce every day,” she says. “My heartfelt thanks goes to the entire Woolworths team – we simply could not do what we do without them.”
Woolworths Group Chief Marketing Officer Andrew Hicks says as today’s fresh food people, the retailer’s goal is to make seasonal and nutritious food accessible to all Australians.
“Our longstanding partnership with OzHarvest allows us to not only provide surplus fresh food to Australians in need, but also help the environment by reducing potential food waste,” he says.
“The 50 million meals milestone is a testament to the dedication of the OzHarvest and Woolworths teams in their care for fresh food and for our Australian communities and proves a little good everyday can make a big difference.”